WTAM Local News

Dangerous suburbs?

(Cleveland) — City officials and business leaders in three Cleveland suburbs say they were shocked to see their communities on a list that the French government has warned tourists to avoid.

Cleveland Heights, Euclid and Lakewood were specifically mentioned on the French Foreign Ministry website as places to avoid "at day and night" because they are supposedly dangerous. Officials call the assessments foolish and unjustified.

Notified of the concerns, a spokesman for the French Consulate in Chicago told the Northeast Ohio Media Group that it looking into how and why the cities got on the list.

The lists include 15 major American cities to avoid, as well as neighborhoods within the cities, such as the Bronx in New York City.